Hello everyone:
It is Labor Day and we find ourselves laboring anyway, even though it is at home. The laundry and ironing are caught up and the school bag is packed for tomorrow. We hope for a good transition into school tomorrow. We are looking for a person to work with Sergey after school until we get home, hopefully someone who can help him with understanding culture, customs and homework. Sergey is looking forward to going to school, although I know he is not fully recovered from jet lag.
Rex, Liz, Sergey
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
Sunday September 2, 2007
Hello Everyone:
It is really good to be back in Iowa. We are looking forward to getting back into a routine and going back to the office. We have missed our staff, patients, and our families. Today was all about getting the laundry done and entertaining Sergey. Hopefully tomorrow we can look over the huge stack of mail from the past two weeks. Also, e-mail management is another challenge for us. Sergey wanted to know if he was going to school today. We looked at the calendar and were able to help him undersatand that it would not be until Tuesday. It is nice to have a calendar with Russian/English together on it for Sergey. It helps communication.
We have to complete the paperwork now for the Ukrainian Embassy. That should be the final step with the exception of annual reports by the social worker for the next several years.
Hope all is well with everyone.
Rex, Liz, Sergey
It is really good to be back in Iowa. We are looking forward to getting back into a routine and going back to the office. We have missed our staff, patients, and our families. Today was all about getting the laundry done and entertaining Sergey. Hopefully tomorrow we can look over the huge stack of mail from the past two weeks. Also, e-mail management is another challenge for us. Sergey wanted to know if he was going to school today. We looked at the calendar and were able to help him undersatand that it would not be until Tuesday. It is nice to have a calendar with Russian/English together on it for Sergey. It helps communication.
We have to complete the paperwork now for the Ukrainian Embassy. That should be the final step with the exception of annual reports by the social worker for the next several years.
Hope all is well with everyone.
Rex, Liz, Sergey
Saturday September 1, 2007
Hello Everyone:
It is September 4th and I now have time to post the information about the trip home. We awoke at 6:15 AM (10:15 PM Friday evening - Iowa time). Our driver picked us up on time and we arrived at the airport in Kiev by 9:15 AM. The Kiev airport checkin is very different from the US airports. You have to wait with your luggage in the airport until it is two hours before check-in-time and it is posted that you can check-in. This basically allows you to pass through to the check in counter, where you then check your luggage. Oour luggage was under the weight limit and we were thankful. All the luggage is weighed together, not separately like the US. After check-in we went to the gate. Sergey made friends with a Russian speaking girl named Susha. They ran around until time to board the plane. On the plane he made friends with the family sitting in front of us who had a son about the same age as Sergey so they traded electronic toys back and forth during the flight to Amsterdam. In Amsterdam at the gate we met a couple who had just spent two months in Odesa, Ukraine, on the Black Sea visiting the lady's father who is in poor health. The lady is Ukrainian and spoke Russian with Sergey. That helped ease his tension and restlessness. The flight to Minneapolis was about nine hours and we arrived on time at 5:30 PM. Just before we arrived Sergey fell asleep and it was very hard for him to wake up. He was tired, afraid and just generally in a bad mood, which made going thru customs challenging. The customs officer felt sorry for us and passed us through. There are some rewards for having an uncooperative child!!! We picked up our luggage and went to the van. We arrived home in Spencer about 10:00 PM. Ironically enough it was just two weeks almost to the hour that we spent on the adoption process, which is a near record according to our agency people here in the US. Once in the house Sergey had to check out everything and was very happy to find toys and familiar items from his visit in January when we hosted him. He finally crashed about midnight but woke up at 5:00 AM the next morning. That is definitely jet lag sleeping pattern.
Again thanks to everyone for following our journey.
Rex, Liz and Sergey
It is September 4th and I now have time to post the information about the trip home. We awoke at 6:15 AM (10:15 PM Friday evening - Iowa time). Our driver picked us up on time and we arrived at the airport in Kiev by 9:15 AM. The Kiev airport checkin is very different from the US airports. You have to wait with your luggage in the airport until it is two hours before check-in-time and it is posted that you can check-in. This basically allows you to pass through to the check in counter, where you then check your luggage. Oour luggage was under the weight limit and we were thankful. All the luggage is weighed together, not separately like the US. After check-in we went to the gate. Sergey made friends with a Russian speaking girl named Susha. They ran around until time to board the plane. On the plane he made friends with the family sitting in front of us who had a son about the same age as Sergey so they traded electronic toys back and forth during the flight to Amsterdam. In Amsterdam at the gate we met a couple who had just spent two months in Odesa, Ukraine, on the Black Sea visiting the lady's father who is in poor health. The lady is Ukrainian and spoke Russian with Sergey. That helped ease his tension and restlessness. The flight to Minneapolis was about nine hours and we arrived on time at 5:30 PM. Just before we arrived Sergey fell asleep and it was very hard for him to wake up. He was tired, afraid and just generally in a bad mood, which made going thru customs challenging. The customs officer felt sorry for us and passed us through. There are some rewards for having an uncooperative child!!! We picked up our luggage and went to the van. We arrived home in Spencer about 10:00 PM. Ironically enough it was just two weeks almost to the hour that we spent on the adoption process, which is a near record according to our agency people here in the US. Once in the house Sergey had to check out everything and was very happy to find toys and familiar items from his visit in January when we hosted him. He finally crashed about midnight but woke up at 5:00 AM the next morning. That is definitely jet lag sleeping pattern.
Again thanks to everyone for following our journey.
Rex, Liz and Sergey
Friday, August 31, 2007
Friday August 31, 2007
Hello Everyone:
Friday and our last day here. We could not make any internet games work and the servers here do not play DVD's so we spent our entire day walking the city of Kiev. We spent considerable time in the fountain in the square, the only "pool" of sorts we could find. We went to the souvenier stands along the street and looked at all the vendors. These vendors sell things from Western Ukraine. There is no industry in Western Ukraine as I may have mentioned earlier. A few souveniers later we are back at the fountains.
Some more observations about Ukraine:
People in Kiev smoke less than those in Donetsk.
The people in Kiev are heavier than Donetsk maybe because they smoke less and perhaps because of the fast food restaurants that are here - we counted at least six or seven McDonald's
The air quality is better in Kiev than Donetsk since ther are no coal mines spewing dust.
There are lots of banks in Kiev.
To walk across streets in Kiev and in Donetsk, you walk down steps, through a tunnel under the street and up the other side. In the tunnels are myriads of small vendors and shops. The flower vendors have absolutely gorgeous flowers.
Friday must be wedding day. We saw at least five different wedding parties. We saw a couple wedding parties with stretch white limos and one with a black suburban. We also saw one party with an old restored Russian auto. They decorate the cars with flowers for the wedding party. The carillon bells were ringing in St Michael's cathedral for one wedding - beautiful music. The wedding dresses are very elegant - some looked antique and some looked brand new. The men wear dark suits or tuxedos.
Buying property in Kiev is very expensive. Rex observed the property for sale on a realtor's window and saw that most apartments go for 500,000.00 USD to 1,000,000.00 USD. Right now we are in a large apartment by their standards. We have two bedrooms, a large living room with 70's looking furniture, a nice size kitchen with table and stools, and a bathroom with sink, stool, tub, and washer/dryer all in one, also a large closet at the end of the hallway. We paid $170.00 USD per night for this apartment. We enjoyed the space and so did Sergey.
Tomorrow we leave for home at 8:30 AM from the apartment. Hopefully no traffice jams tomorrow.
We will post again once we arrive in the US.
See everyone soon
Rex, Liz, Sergey
Friday and our last day here. We could not make any internet games work and the servers here do not play DVD's so we spent our entire day walking the city of Kiev. We spent considerable time in the fountain in the square, the only "pool" of sorts we could find. We went to the souvenier stands along the street and looked at all the vendors. These vendors sell things from Western Ukraine. There is no industry in Western Ukraine as I may have mentioned earlier. A few souveniers later we are back at the fountains.
Some more observations about Ukraine:
People in Kiev smoke less than those in Donetsk.
The people in Kiev are heavier than Donetsk maybe because they smoke less and perhaps because of the fast food restaurants that are here - we counted at least six or seven McDonald's
The air quality is better in Kiev than Donetsk since ther are no coal mines spewing dust.
There are lots of banks in Kiev.
To walk across streets in Kiev and in Donetsk, you walk down steps, through a tunnel under the street and up the other side. In the tunnels are myriads of small vendors and shops. The flower vendors have absolutely gorgeous flowers.
Friday must be wedding day. We saw at least five different wedding parties. We saw a couple wedding parties with stretch white limos and one with a black suburban. We also saw one party with an old restored Russian auto. They decorate the cars with flowers for the wedding party. The carillon bells were ringing in St Michael's cathedral for one wedding - beautiful music. The wedding dresses are very elegant - some looked antique and some looked brand new. The men wear dark suits or tuxedos.
Buying property in Kiev is very expensive. Rex observed the property for sale on a realtor's window and saw that most apartments go for 500,000.00 USD to 1,000,000.00 USD. Right now we are in a large apartment by their standards. We have two bedrooms, a large living room with 70's looking furniture, a nice size kitchen with table and stools, and a bathroom with sink, stool, tub, and washer/dryer all in one, also a large closet at the end of the hallway. We paid $170.00 USD per night for this apartment. We enjoyed the space and so did Sergey.
Tomorrow we leave for home at 8:30 AM from the apartment. Hopefully no traffice jams tomorrow.
We will post again once we arrive in the US.
See everyone soon
Rex, Liz, Sergey
Thursday, August 30, 2007
Thursday August 30, 2007
Hello Everyone:
Our journey in the Ukraine brought us back to Kiev today. We left Donetsk at 5:40 AM. That means we rolled out of bed at 3:30 AM today. The flight here was easy, even fed us a snack. However, the ride from the airport was unbelievable heavy traffic. You think we have traffice anywhere in Iowa - NYET - NYET- NYET ( very expressive Russian no). Four lanes of traffic on the interstate became five even though there are only four. And a bicyclist was crazy enough to be riding between the traffic on the interstate and beat us to the turn-off!! We also learned that traffic in the Ukraine if not moveing fast enough, just drive on the sidewalk and push in whereever someone will let you. Sidewalk driving was a totally new concept in driving today. Also, if you do not like the stalled traffic in your lane and there is no oncoming traffic, just do a u-turn in the the oppostie lane of traffic and find a different route. For those of you following our blog and were in Italy with us - Italy was totally tame!! We saw a scooter get traffic jammed today on the freeway because the vehicles were packed so tight there wasn't even room for the scooter to wiggle through. Due to the heavy traffic we were about ten minutes late for the medical appointment, but that did not seem to matter either. The doctor just took us in five minutes after we arrived ahead of the next person. It seems adoption appointments get special privilieges.
The medical clinic is attached to the hospital. It needed a good cleaning. This was not a surprise after our courtroom experience Tuesday. The public buildings seem to need better janitorial standards. By the way, the doctors here are very efficient, but the rest of the system (staff) needs PINNACLE applied!!
After we finished the medical appointment we went to the Embassy. They took us an hour early which was very nice. We were finished before our appointment time. Later in the afternoon we went back and picked up the visa information and the passport. So all the paperwork has been completed here. When we get home we have several more registrations to complete. We also will have ongoing home study visits that will report back to the Ukraine over time.
Our flight home is on Saturday. We leave Kiev 11:50AM - arrive Amsterdam 1:50PM. Leave Amsterdam 3:35 PM and arrive Minneapolis 5:40 PM. We hope for very smooth sailing through customs and luggage pickup.
Tonight we found an Internet Cafe five blocks from our apartment. However, this one has no games for Sergey, so he is getting restless!! Tomorrow will be a challenging day trying to entertain him.
Thanks again to everyone who is following our journey. We appreciate your comments.
See you in the US very soon.
Rex, Liz, & Sergey
Our journey in the Ukraine brought us back to Kiev today. We left Donetsk at 5:40 AM. That means we rolled out of bed at 3:30 AM today. The flight here was easy, even fed us a snack. However, the ride from the airport was unbelievable heavy traffic. You think we have traffice anywhere in Iowa - NYET - NYET- NYET ( very expressive Russian no). Four lanes of traffic on the interstate became five even though there are only four. And a bicyclist was crazy enough to be riding between the traffic on the interstate and beat us to the turn-off!! We also learned that traffic in the Ukraine if not moveing fast enough, just drive on the sidewalk and push in whereever someone will let you. Sidewalk driving was a totally new concept in driving today. Also, if you do not like the stalled traffic in your lane and there is no oncoming traffic, just do a u-turn in the the oppostie lane of traffic and find a different route. For those of you following our blog and were in Italy with us - Italy was totally tame!! We saw a scooter get traffic jammed today on the freeway because the vehicles were packed so tight there wasn't even room for the scooter to wiggle through. Due to the heavy traffic we were about ten minutes late for the medical appointment, but that did not seem to matter either. The doctor just took us in five minutes after we arrived ahead of the next person. It seems adoption appointments get special privilieges.
The medical clinic is attached to the hospital. It needed a good cleaning. This was not a surprise after our courtroom experience Tuesday. The public buildings seem to need better janitorial standards. By the way, the doctors here are very efficient, but the rest of the system (staff) needs PINNACLE applied!!
After we finished the medical appointment we went to the Embassy. They took us an hour early which was very nice. We were finished before our appointment time. Later in the afternoon we went back and picked up the visa information and the passport. So all the paperwork has been completed here. When we get home we have several more registrations to complete. We also will have ongoing home study visits that will report back to the Ukraine over time.
Our flight home is on Saturday. We leave Kiev 11:50AM - arrive Amsterdam 1:50PM. Leave Amsterdam 3:35 PM and arrive Minneapolis 5:40 PM. We hope for very smooth sailing through customs and luggage pickup.
Tonight we found an Internet Cafe five blocks from our apartment. However, this one has no games for Sergey, so he is getting restless!! Tomorrow will be a challenging day trying to entertain him.
Thanks again to everyone who is following our journey. We appreciate your comments.
See you in the US very soon.
Rex, Liz, & Sergey
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Wednesday August 29, 2007
Hello Everyone:
Thanks to everyone who is following our journey. Thanks for all the nice comments.
Today was another eventful day. Angelina picked us up about 10:45. We dropped off the original paper to the judge first, then onto passport pictures, then went to see his grandma which was probably the most important thing we did today in the grand scheme of things, and then we visited Olga at the orphanage to complete paperwork with her, have champagne and chocolates for a toast.
The visit with Grandma was very enlightening to say the least. She is older and in poor health. Her apartment is shared with Sergey's stepsisters, Nina and Marina, ages 21 and 18 who we also met. It is a one bedroom apartment with a small living room and a tiny kitchen and tiny bathroom. Over here the toilet is in a separate small room from the sink and the shower. It also appears that other people may also share the apartment, such as Nina and Marina's aunt and children?? Grandma told us that while she would love to raise Sergey she is too old and in too poor of health. His sisters (half sisters) are not financially capable of raising him because they are in school and also work to support themselves so there is no way for them to raise him although they would like to. Grandma had tears of joy to be able to meet us and is very happy for Sergey that he has a forever family. We probably spent an hour or two talking through the translator with grandma. The sisters could speak some English but we talked with them mainly through the translator. They have a computer and we will keep them informed about Sergey. It is very helpful for us to meet them and know his background. By the way, I am not sure how they got all his pictures, but all the pictures we took of him at Christmas were at grandma's house. I am so glad she has them and looks at them often. We can send more. When Sergey wanted to take some of them we told him we have a duplicate set in America and he should leave them for grandma. My observation here is that Rex got the 21 year old with her own apartment, just in a very different way than he ever expected - not that we will have that much contact - but it is interesting how the universe delivers what you think about.
Well, more Ukrainian observations if you are not tired of them.
For the families travelling to the Ukraine in the near future and working with Angelina- do not sweat the gift buying. It appears as though Ukrainian champagne, Ukrainian chocolates and cognac are the gifts of choice for the judge, and others, which Angelina helped us pick out and then she distributed. We did give some of the gifts we brought to the regional officials. The rest of them we simply gave to Olga to distribute to the orphanage workers. We also brought toys for Sergey to leave with his friends, which we left with Olga due to the fact the orphanage was closed. Angelina has a driver named Valera, who you will pay $10.00 per hour for his assistance. At first I thought it unnecessary, but after seeing how they drive (a little crazy like all of Europe), park, and move the vehicle around while we were doing paperwork, it is necessary so her car is not destroyed. Also, bring paper and pens to write on and with. There is a scarcity of pens here and no paper to be found anywhere!!!! Also, bring handi wipes. They will be used more than the sanitizer in the jar. I noticed Angelina carries them also. They are lightweight and easy to pack.
Observations about the country, food, etc.
Sergey is a common name in the Ukraine - have met at least five or six other Sergey's.
It is not an ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) friendly country. Potholes, manholes, curbs without wheelchair accessibility, buildings with no elevators and going up the steps of these buildings is like the blind leading the blind - no lights.
One more comment about the toilets - they do not flush the toilet paper here, they put it in the trash. However, I could not bring myself to put the toilet paper in the trash and have flushed it. But Sergey puts his in the trash.
Another comment about our bathroom in the hotel, it is all black tile, including the ceiling.
Today on the way to Sergey's grandma's apartment we went past private houses - OH MY - it reminded us of the houses the slaves lived in down South. Rex remembers driving by them on family vacations when he was six or seven. These "houses" look in much worse repair than the apartments. They all have corrugated tin on the roofs. I believe the apartment buildings also have corrugated tin for rooftops if we could see the top of them.
Money is hryvnia (grivna) and is a 5:1 exchange to the USD. Therefore it takes 5 hryvnia to buy 1 USD and 100 hryvnia for 20 USD. Their bill denominations are 1,2,5,10, 20, 50, 100,200. I am not sure if they have 500 and 1000 denominations also, because we have not exchanged that much money, but I have seen those bills in a magazine.
Here the wedding ring is worn on the right ring finger.
I mentioned that everyone has a cell phone and today on the playground I saw a three year old handling her parents cell phone. Also, many have two and three cell phones. Angelina was talking on two phones at once and gave us her third one so she could call us. WOW!
There is alot of pollution here. We saw several smokestacks spewing out alot of pollution from the coal mines below the city. Sunday was National Coal Miner's Day with a big parade and on Monday we saw several hungover men lying on park benches.
They only toast their bread on one side!!
The staff at the hotel are service oriented. They are Pinnacalized for all of our chiropractic friends following our journey!!!
Sergey has watched Nickelodean channel here - and the cartoons are similiar just in Russian.
Well, we travel tomorrow morning at 5:40. I am not sure whether I will get to post anything else until we get home. I do not know where the apartment is we are staying in Thursday and Friday so not sure if we can find an internet cafe!
We leave Saturday around noon for Amsterdam and then around 3:30 from Amsterdam to Minneapolis. It is nine hours.
Rex, Liz & Sergey
Thanks to everyone who is following our journey. Thanks for all the nice comments.
Today was another eventful day. Angelina picked us up about 10:45. We dropped off the original paper to the judge first, then onto passport pictures, then went to see his grandma which was probably the most important thing we did today in the grand scheme of things, and then we visited Olga at the orphanage to complete paperwork with her, have champagne and chocolates for a toast.
The visit with Grandma was very enlightening to say the least. She is older and in poor health. Her apartment is shared with Sergey's stepsisters, Nina and Marina, ages 21 and 18 who we also met. It is a one bedroom apartment with a small living room and a tiny kitchen and tiny bathroom. Over here the toilet is in a separate small room from the sink and the shower. It also appears that other people may also share the apartment, such as Nina and Marina's aunt and children?? Grandma told us that while she would love to raise Sergey she is too old and in too poor of health. His sisters (half sisters) are not financially capable of raising him because they are in school and also work to support themselves so there is no way for them to raise him although they would like to. Grandma had tears of joy to be able to meet us and is very happy for Sergey that he has a forever family. We probably spent an hour or two talking through the translator with grandma. The sisters could speak some English but we talked with them mainly through the translator. They have a computer and we will keep them informed about Sergey. It is very helpful for us to meet them and know his background. By the way, I am not sure how they got all his pictures, but all the pictures we took of him at Christmas were at grandma's house. I am so glad she has them and looks at them often. We can send more. When Sergey wanted to take some of them we told him we have a duplicate set in America and he should leave them for grandma. My observation here is that Rex got the 21 year old with her own apartment, just in a very different way than he ever expected - not that we will have that much contact - but it is interesting how the universe delivers what you think about.
Well, more Ukrainian observations if you are not tired of them.
For the families travelling to the Ukraine in the near future and working with Angelina- do not sweat the gift buying. It appears as though Ukrainian champagne, Ukrainian chocolates and cognac are the gifts of choice for the judge, and others, which Angelina helped us pick out and then she distributed. We did give some of the gifts we brought to the regional officials. The rest of them we simply gave to Olga to distribute to the orphanage workers. We also brought toys for Sergey to leave with his friends, which we left with Olga due to the fact the orphanage was closed. Angelina has a driver named Valera, who you will pay $10.00 per hour for his assistance. At first I thought it unnecessary, but after seeing how they drive (a little crazy like all of Europe), park, and move the vehicle around while we were doing paperwork, it is necessary so her car is not destroyed. Also, bring paper and pens to write on and with. There is a scarcity of pens here and no paper to be found anywhere!!!! Also, bring handi wipes. They will be used more than the sanitizer in the jar. I noticed Angelina carries them also. They are lightweight and easy to pack.
Observations about the country, food, etc.
Sergey is a common name in the Ukraine - have met at least five or six other Sergey's.
It is not an ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) friendly country. Potholes, manholes, curbs without wheelchair accessibility, buildings with no elevators and going up the steps of these buildings is like the blind leading the blind - no lights.
One more comment about the toilets - they do not flush the toilet paper here, they put it in the trash. However, I could not bring myself to put the toilet paper in the trash and have flushed it. But Sergey puts his in the trash.
Another comment about our bathroom in the hotel, it is all black tile, including the ceiling.
Today on the way to Sergey's grandma's apartment we went past private houses - OH MY - it reminded us of the houses the slaves lived in down South. Rex remembers driving by them on family vacations when he was six or seven. These "houses" look in much worse repair than the apartments. They all have corrugated tin on the roofs. I believe the apartment buildings also have corrugated tin for rooftops if we could see the top of them.
Money is hryvnia (grivna) and is a 5:1 exchange to the USD. Therefore it takes 5 hryvnia to buy 1 USD and 100 hryvnia for 20 USD. Their bill denominations are 1,2,5,10, 20, 50, 100,200. I am not sure if they have 500 and 1000 denominations also, because we have not exchanged that much money, but I have seen those bills in a magazine.
Here the wedding ring is worn on the right ring finger.
I mentioned that everyone has a cell phone and today on the playground I saw a three year old handling her parents cell phone. Also, many have two and three cell phones. Angelina was talking on two phones at once and gave us her third one so she could call us. WOW!
There is alot of pollution here. We saw several smokestacks spewing out alot of pollution from the coal mines below the city. Sunday was National Coal Miner's Day with a big parade and on Monday we saw several hungover men lying on park benches.
They only toast their bread on one side!!
The staff at the hotel are service oriented. They are Pinnacalized for all of our chiropractic friends following our journey!!!
Sergey has watched Nickelodean channel here - and the cartoons are similiar just in Russian.
Well, we travel tomorrow morning at 5:40. I am not sure whether I will get to post anything else until we get home. I do not know where the apartment is we are staying in Thursday and Friday so not sure if we can find an internet cafe!
We leave Saturday around noon for Amsterdam and then around 3:30 from Amsterdam to Minneapolis. It is nine hours.
Rex, Liz & Sergey
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Tuesday August 28, 2007
Hello Everyone:
Today was a very eventful day. Angelina met us at 8:45 AM and we were off to do precourt paperwork and pick up Olga, the orphanage director. She was a little worried because the final original stamped document had not arrived and was concerned the judge would not grant the hearing without it. However, she was able to convince the judge that the faxed document was as good as the original prior to the hearing. Judge was late for the hearing as he has another hearing. Hearing began about 10:30. It only lasted a short period, but the judge did ask us questions. He also asked Sergey questions. He did grant the request to waive the ten day waiting period!! Hallelujah! Prayers have been answered!!!! After the court hearing we did some more regional documentation in Donetsk and Angelina was going to pick up Sergey's passport with his new name later today. We saw his new birth certificate with his name change and Sergey was pleased. Tomorrow we will finish up the last regional paperwork, finish up the final paperwork at the orphanage and pick up his luggage from the orphanage, and visit his Ukrainian grandmother to say goodbye. Thursday we will have his medical appointment and Embassy appointment in Kiev. We would like to fly Friday, but due to the holiday weekend, ticket availability was better on Saturday, so we will come home Saturday. We are finalizing the flight details and let you know that tomorrow.
Some other Ukrainian observations for those that are interested. Most of the toilets here are the flush type, however, we have encountered some Turkish toilets (this is the squat type - but they do have porcelain bases for your feet - a little better than those we encountered in Italy for those of you who went on that trip with us!) We have not had to pay to use any toilets, however, we have had to use our own tissue a couple of times. Their toilet tissue is many different grades. In the hotel it is similiar to our cheaper toilet paper. At the Internet Cafe it is brown - somewhat like paper towel quality, but I do not mind it. As for shopping, there are no big box stores here, however, we did go to two nice malls in Kiev and one very nice department store in Donetsk where they had everything from clothes, to jewelry, to cell phones, to a grocery store all together in about a six story building. On the other hand, there are also open air markets with fruits, vegetables, etc., but Angelina tells us they are not all legal, especially the ones selling the fresh warm unpasteurized milk and the fresh meat that is not refrigerated, which we pass every time we go the federal buildings. Then their is the bazaar which is close to the Internet cafe and to Lenin Square. We ventured over there a couple times - part of it is outdoors and part of it is indoors. Then there are the street vendors, especially, the one along the street to the Internet cafe that is selling school supplies - the typical things, paper, pencils, books, pens, pencil cases, all the typical things you would get in America - just in Russian. Sergey got a pen there today and the English book - 5th Form that I talked about earlier. Then there are the private stores much like you see in small town America which I ventured into yesterday looking for a gift bag. Surprisingly, most of the shopping in Kiev was underground. There was a huge underground mall under the Mandarin Mall. You could buy furniture there as well as kitchen supplies, computers, TV's, kids clothes, shoes, etc., really everything but groceries. The cities have access to many things if you have the money to purchase it. In Ukraine, that is the biggest challenge. Doctors make $150.00 USD per month or 750.00 hryvnia per month. That is their middle class. Teachers make $60.00 USD per month or 300.00 hryvnia. Angelina said the judges make a little more than the doctors per month. I'm not sure what the coal miners make. Very interesting culture - where the people are very educated but their jobs do not support them above bare essentials. Oh, their homes are pretty much all apartments. Angelina told us her apartment was not much bigger than our hotel room. They inherited it from her husband's grandmother, therefore they live in Gorlovka, even though she is from southern Ukraine. When we were in Gorlovka lst week we passed rows and rows of apartments that looked the Chicago ghetto flats on the outside. I am not sure what the inside looked like. And by the way, the courtroom today - wait until you see the pictures.
Enough for today. Will post more tomorrow.
Rex, Liz and Sergey
Today was a very eventful day. Angelina met us at 8:45 AM and we were off to do precourt paperwork and pick up Olga, the orphanage director. She was a little worried because the final original stamped document had not arrived and was concerned the judge would not grant the hearing without it. However, she was able to convince the judge that the faxed document was as good as the original prior to the hearing. Judge was late for the hearing as he has another hearing. Hearing began about 10:30. It only lasted a short period, but the judge did ask us questions. He also asked Sergey questions. He did grant the request to waive the ten day waiting period!! Hallelujah! Prayers have been answered!!!! After the court hearing we did some more regional documentation in Donetsk and Angelina was going to pick up Sergey's passport with his new name later today. We saw his new birth certificate with his name change and Sergey was pleased. Tomorrow we will finish up the last regional paperwork, finish up the final paperwork at the orphanage and pick up his luggage from the orphanage, and visit his Ukrainian grandmother to say goodbye. Thursday we will have his medical appointment and Embassy appointment in Kiev. We would like to fly Friday, but due to the holiday weekend, ticket availability was better on Saturday, so we will come home Saturday. We are finalizing the flight details and let you know that tomorrow.
Some other Ukrainian observations for those that are interested. Most of the toilets here are the flush type, however, we have encountered some Turkish toilets (this is the squat type - but they do have porcelain bases for your feet - a little better than those we encountered in Italy for those of you who went on that trip with us!) We have not had to pay to use any toilets, however, we have had to use our own tissue a couple of times. Their toilet tissue is many different grades. In the hotel it is similiar to our cheaper toilet paper. At the Internet Cafe it is brown - somewhat like paper towel quality, but I do not mind it. As for shopping, there are no big box stores here, however, we did go to two nice malls in Kiev and one very nice department store in Donetsk where they had everything from clothes, to jewelry, to cell phones, to a grocery store all together in about a six story building. On the other hand, there are also open air markets with fruits, vegetables, etc., but Angelina tells us they are not all legal, especially the ones selling the fresh warm unpasteurized milk and the fresh meat that is not refrigerated, which we pass every time we go the federal buildings. Then their is the bazaar which is close to the Internet cafe and to Lenin Square. We ventured over there a couple times - part of it is outdoors and part of it is indoors. Then there are the street vendors, especially, the one along the street to the Internet cafe that is selling school supplies - the typical things, paper, pencils, books, pens, pencil cases, all the typical things you would get in America - just in Russian. Sergey got a pen there today and the English book - 5th Form that I talked about earlier. Then there are the private stores much like you see in small town America which I ventured into yesterday looking for a gift bag. Surprisingly, most of the shopping in Kiev was underground. There was a huge underground mall under the Mandarin Mall. You could buy furniture there as well as kitchen supplies, computers, TV's, kids clothes, shoes, etc., really everything but groceries. The cities have access to many things if you have the money to purchase it. In Ukraine, that is the biggest challenge. Doctors make $150.00 USD per month or 750.00 hryvnia per month. That is their middle class. Teachers make $60.00 USD per month or 300.00 hryvnia. Angelina said the judges make a little more than the doctors per month. I'm not sure what the coal miners make. Very interesting culture - where the people are very educated but their jobs do not support them above bare essentials. Oh, their homes are pretty much all apartments. Angelina told us her apartment was not much bigger than our hotel room. They inherited it from her husband's grandmother, therefore they live in Gorlovka, even though she is from southern Ukraine. When we were in Gorlovka lst week we passed rows and rows of apartments that looked the Chicago ghetto flats on the outside. I am not sure what the inside looked like. And by the way, the courtroom today - wait until you see the pictures.
Enough for today. Will post more tomorrow.
Rex, Liz and Sergey
Monday, August 27, 2007
Monday August 27, 2007 PM
Hello Everyone:
We received great news from our coordinator this afternoon. Our court appointment is tomorrow at 10:00 AM. We hope the waiting period is waived - especially with the extenuating circumstances. If it is waived we still have the meidcal appointment and the embassy appointment in Kiev this week and hope to travel to the US end of the week. We are ready to come home. Look for our post tomorrow after court!
Rex, Liz & Sergey
We received great news from our coordinator this afternoon. Our court appointment is tomorrow at 10:00 AM. We hope the waiting period is waived - especially with the extenuating circumstances. If it is waived we still have the meidcal appointment and the embassy appointment in Kiev this week and hope to travel to the US end of the week. We are ready to come home. Look for our post tomorrow after court!
Rex, Liz & Sergey
Monday August 27, 2007
Goodmorning everyone:
We will probably post twice today. We spent six or seven hours at the Internet Cafe yesterday keeping Sergey and us occupied. We really wish for a pool, soccer field, etc, but have not been able to find that yet. Outside the internet cafe is some playground equipment but that only holds the interest for about an hour and then computer games outweigh the playground. Yesterday Sergey was sitting among many other Russian boys at the computer doing male bonding!! They were all playing the same game and competing or at least that is what we think was going on. You think American boys are noisy - you should hear Ukrainian boys with all that gutteral sound in the Russian language - quite loud. Rex spent time inside the cafe reading yesterday after he was done checking e-mail. It is air conditioned and that felt great as it must have been 37C or 38C here again yesterday. I spent time with three young girls we met the evening before. We noticed these girls because they had a cat they were playing with. The cat is the most relaxed cat we had ever seen. They were swinging with it and then they put it on the teeter totter. It did not move. We had to take a picture of the cat and from there we struck up a conversation - albeit limited. The girls are Karina (14), Sabina (13), and Helena (13). Karina and Sabina ae sisters and Helena is their friend. The cat is Acrobat - 7 month old male. They wanted to meet us Sunday afternoon, (adeen chess) - 1:00 PM to talk English. So I took the challenge because I wanted to talk Russian. We talked all afternoon. Thank goodness for the translator. It worked for most words we could not underastand. They go back to school September 1st. Helena's mom is a doctor. Helena speaks German and Russian very well. Sabina, Karina & Helena all study English in school, but have less English than Sergey. They will be in 8th grade (8th form in Ukraine). Here they go to school through age 16 and graduate from high school and then onto college if they can. On the way to the Internet cafe we passed street vendors who have school supplies on their table. Sergey looked over the tables of supplies and wanted to buy a book - an English book - 5th Form. When we arrived back at the hotel I looked at the book and if he understands all the English in the book I am impressed.
It is noon here as I post and we are waiting for Angelina to call us this afternoon with court date news. We really are hoping for smooth sailing throught the rest of the process.
To all those who have posted comments, thank-you. We have read them. It is nice to hear from all of you. Logan Stuckey, happy 17th birthday. How is that flying going? To the Wurth's - we will be happy to share more details when we get home. Rex even said we would share Sergey, and by the way he loves dogs. To Carolyn - thanks for keepin up with the blogsite. To our family members - thanks for all you are doing for us at home.
More observations about the Ukraine. Everyone here has a cell phone. While I stated that the inside of everything is clean - outside is full of coal dust. The air quality is better than we thought but each night when we get back to the hotel we have a thin coating of dust on us. The people here are very educated - 96 % literacy rate, there just are no good paying jobs. We noticed in Donetsk that all the windows are being replaced in all the buildings. The windows at the orphanage had been replaced on two floors and one floor was left to do. The most interesting thing about the hotel is how the doors lock. You lock them with a key on the inside and outside. This would never pass fire code in the US. We found a small local grocery store about two blocks from the hotel and it has all the necessary supplies - sausage & cheese for Sergey, vodka for Randy, wine for Debbie.
Poka for now,
Liz, Rex, Sergey
We will probably post twice today. We spent six or seven hours at the Internet Cafe yesterday keeping Sergey and us occupied. We really wish for a pool, soccer field, etc, but have not been able to find that yet. Outside the internet cafe is some playground equipment but that only holds the interest for about an hour and then computer games outweigh the playground. Yesterday Sergey was sitting among many other Russian boys at the computer doing male bonding!! They were all playing the same game and competing or at least that is what we think was going on. You think American boys are noisy - you should hear Ukrainian boys with all that gutteral sound in the Russian language - quite loud. Rex spent time inside the cafe reading yesterday after he was done checking e-mail. It is air conditioned and that felt great as it must have been 37C or 38C here again yesterday. I spent time with three young girls we met the evening before. We noticed these girls because they had a cat they were playing with. The cat is the most relaxed cat we had ever seen. They were swinging with it and then they put it on the teeter totter. It did not move. We had to take a picture of the cat and from there we struck up a conversation - albeit limited. The girls are Karina (14), Sabina (13), and Helena (13). Karina and Sabina ae sisters and Helena is their friend. The cat is Acrobat - 7 month old male. They wanted to meet us Sunday afternoon, (adeen chess) - 1:00 PM to talk English. So I took the challenge because I wanted to talk Russian. We talked all afternoon. Thank goodness for the translator. It worked for most words we could not underastand. They go back to school September 1st. Helena's mom is a doctor. Helena speaks German and Russian very well. Sabina, Karina & Helena all study English in school, but have less English than Sergey. They will be in 8th grade (8th form in Ukraine). Here they go to school through age 16 and graduate from high school and then onto college if they can. On the way to the Internet cafe we passed street vendors who have school supplies on their table. Sergey looked over the tables of supplies and wanted to buy a book - an English book - 5th Form. When we arrived back at the hotel I looked at the book and if he understands all the English in the book I am impressed.
It is noon here as I post and we are waiting for Angelina to call us this afternoon with court date news. We really are hoping for smooth sailing throught the rest of the process.
To all those who have posted comments, thank-you. We have read them. It is nice to hear from all of you. Logan Stuckey, happy 17th birthday. How is that flying going? To the Wurth's - we will be happy to share more details when we get home. Rex even said we would share Sergey, and by the way he loves dogs. To Carolyn - thanks for keepin up with the blogsite. To our family members - thanks for all you are doing for us at home.
More observations about the Ukraine. Everyone here has a cell phone. While I stated that the inside of everything is clean - outside is full of coal dust. The air quality is better than we thought but each night when we get back to the hotel we have a thin coating of dust on us. The people here are very educated - 96 % literacy rate, there just are no good paying jobs. We noticed in Donetsk that all the windows are being replaced in all the buildings. The windows at the orphanage had been replaced on two floors and one floor was left to do. The most interesting thing about the hotel is how the doors lock. You lock them with a key on the inside and outside. This would never pass fire code in the US. We found a small local grocery store about two blocks from the hotel and it has all the necessary supplies - sausage & cheese for Sergey, vodka for Randy, wine for Debbie.
Poka for now,
Liz, Rex, Sergey
Sunday, August 26, 2007
Sunday August 26, 2007
Zdraste Everyone: (Formal hello in Russian - English transliteration)
Today is Sunday and on our walk to the Internet Cafe we noticed people leaving a synagogue or church just around the corner from us. We saw alot of people that needed chiropractic care, especially the babushkas (grandmothers). Many were holding their backs and walking slowly. Speaking of chiropractic care I should mention that there are two soccer teams staying in our hotel - the Vodafone team and the Fortis team. One is from Holland and one from Greece and we are not sure which is which yet, however, we noticed the Vodafone team last night limping and we thought - HMMM- we could be busy for an hour or two adjusting the team. The Fortis team was not as beat up last night as the Vodafone team.
Today, I thought I would mention some interesting observations we have noticed about the Ukraine. There are flat screens everywhere - in the hotel, in the restaurants, and in the arena in Kiev. The arena is a big shopping area where Mandarin mall shops surround the arena. The screens at the arena were absolutely huge! We ate dinner on the second floor and watched TV across the arena on this huge screen that would suffice as a billboard screen. The next interesting thing we noticed is how clean our apartment in Kiev was and how clean our hotel room is in Donetsk - even the corners of the floors. Our hotel is owned by the richest man in the Ukraine, once a criminal, now a politician because his friend is the president of the Ukraine - interesting how politics are the same everywhere. They are trying to get immunity for the Senators in Parliament - total immunity - NICE PERK if it happens - you can be a horrible criminal and be untouched. Next observation is that everyone in the Ukraine smokes. Sergey comments that: Ukraine smoke, America no smoke and I no smoke! We hope that trend continues!! The young people here are very slim - extremely slim - not anorexic - just slim. The middle age people are slightly stocky, and only five percent seem obese. Of course I noticed the clothing here. The children are dressed in very cute clothes with American logos - Nike, etc. The female young adults dress in heels and somewhat provocatively, especially at night, but the guys really don't pay that much attention to them. The business women all wear heels and fancy dresses, suits, with brocade and alot of style. The babushkas and mothers on the playgound wear common clothing, but almost all are in skirts. The businessmen all wear suits, white shirts and ties. Their shoes are Italian and look expensive. The Ukrainians are multiracial, caucasian mainly, but also Blacks, Asians and Mid Eastern influence is noticed. Everyone has nice facial features and overall are a good looking group of people. Rex noticed the newer model cars, Mercedes, a few BMW's, and cars made in the Ukraine called Skoda. They take very good care of their cars. He also noticed hardly any scooters, a welcome relief to those of us who motorcycle, but also very few motorcycles. We decided the climate was too harsh and money too scarce to have more than one means of transportation. Rex also went to an Orthodox church last night while Sergey & I continued at the Internet cafe (four hours of games for Sergey - oh do I wish for a pool or lake right now to entertain him). Church services were under way. All the people stand for the service - a couple of hours. The chandeliers and the pulpit were gold trimmed. The chior sang beautifully from the chior loft. The outside of the church was beautiful also and we will post it when we get home.
That's all the room for today's update.
Disadanya,
Rex, Liz and Sergey
Today is Sunday and on our walk to the Internet Cafe we noticed people leaving a synagogue or church just around the corner from us. We saw alot of people that needed chiropractic care, especially the babushkas (grandmothers). Many were holding their backs and walking slowly. Speaking of chiropractic care I should mention that there are two soccer teams staying in our hotel - the Vodafone team and the Fortis team. One is from Holland and one from Greece and we are not sure which is which yet, however, we noticed the Vodafone team last night limping and we thought - HMMM- we could be busy for an hour or two adjusting the team. The Fortis team was not as beat up last night as the Vodafone team.
Today, I thought I would mention some interesting observations we have noticed about the Ukraine. There are flat screens everywhere - in the hotel, in the restaurants, and in the arena in Kiev. The arena is a big shopping area where Mandarin mall shops surround the arena. The screens at the arena were absolutely huge! We ate dinner on the second floor and watched TV across the arena on this huge screen that would suffice as a billboard screen. The next interesting thing we noticed is how clean our apartment in Kiev was and how clean our hotel room is in Donetsk - even the corners of the floors. Our hotel is owned by the richest man in the Ukraine, once a criminal, now a politician because his friend is the president of the Ukraine - interesting how politics are the same everywhere. They are trying to get immunity for the Senators in Parliament - total immunity - NICE PERK if it happens - you can be a horrible criminal and be untouched. Next observation is that everyone in the Ukraine smokes. Sergey comments that: Ukraine smoke, America no smoke and I no smoke! We hope that trend continues!! The young people here are very slim - extremely slim - not anorexic - just slim. The middle age people are slightly stocky, and only five percent seem obese. Of course I noticed the clothing here. The children are dressed in very cute clothes with American logos - Nike, etc. The female young adults dress in heels and somewhat provocatively, especially at night, but the guys really don't pay that much attention to them. The business women all wear heels and fancy dresses, suits, with brocade and alot of style. The babushkas and mothers on the playgound wear common clothing, but almost all are in skirts. The businessmen all wear suits, white shirts and ties. Their shoes are Italian and look expensive. The Ukrainians are multiracial, caucasian mainly, but also Blacks, Asians and Mid Eastern influence is noticed. Everyone has nice facial features and overall are a good looking group of people. Rex noticed the newer model cars, Mercedes, a few BMW's, and cars made in the Ukraine called Skoda. They take very good care of their cars. He also noticed hardly any scooters, a welcome relief to those of us who motorcycle, but also very few motorcycles. We decided the climate was too harsh and money too scarce to have more than one means of transportation. Rex also went to an Orthodox church last night while Sergey & I continued at the Internet cafe (four hours of games for Sergey - oh do I wish for a pool or lake right now to entertain him). Church services were under way. All the people stand for the service - a couple of hours. The chandeliers and the pulpit were gold trimmed. The chior sang beautifully from the chior loft. The outside of the church was beautiful also and we will post it when we get home.
That's all the room for today's update.
Disadanya,
Rex, Liz and Sergey
Saturday, August 25, 2007
Saturday August 25, 2007
Hello Everyone:
It's hard to believe we left one week ago today. Last week Saturday I was working hard to complete office paperwork before we left for the Ukraine and today I am working on office paperwork I brought with me. It is interesting how paperwork travels around the world with me. We do miss our office, our staff and patients. Today has been a lazy day. We stayed up late last night playing comuter games with Sergey, albeit, the new ones did not load due to space issues on the laptop, and not enough RAM to really power them. Rex spent four hours yesterday afternoon with the hotel staff trying to get them loaded and only one loaded partially so Sergey was happy when we got back and played it for two hours. This is a note to future families adopting from the Ukraine, have enough memory and RAM for your laptop, especially if you are fortunate enough to have your child (children) stay with you, although I think this is a very special, extenuating circumstance that we have guardianship now, prior to the court hearing. Another note to future travelling families, I have found that you should pack several ziplock bags. They have come in handy for so many things - food, money, etc.
Today we also ventured around the square. Yesterday Sergey left his cap at the Georgian restaurant. We walked to the restaurant - an easy walk - but when you are language impaired - it was quite a venture. The cap was there and Sergey was happy. So were we. The staff were all very helpful and understood why we came.
Otherwise, Sergey has been announcing to everyone he talks to that we are his mom and dad. He talks in Russian alot and we just hope he is being polite because we have no way of knowing what he is saying.
Thanks to everyone who is following our blog. Unfortuantely there will be no pictures until we return home.
Disadanya (Formal goodbye in Russian - English transliteration)
Rex, Liz and Sergey
It's hard to believe we left one week ago today. Last week Saturday I was working hard to complete office paperwork before we left for the Ukraine and today I am working on office paperwork I brought with me. It is interesting how paperwork travels around the world with me. We do miss our office, our staff and patients. Today has been a lazy day. We stayed up late last night playing comuter games with Sergey, albeit, the new ones did not load due to space issues on the laptop, and not enough RAM to really power them. Rex spent four hours yesterday afternoon with the hotel staff trying to get them loaded and only one loaded partially so Sergey was happy when we got back and played it for two hours. This is a note to future families adopting from the Ukraine, have enough memory and RAM for your laptop, especially if you are fortunate enough to have your child (children) stay with you, although I think this is a very special, extenuating circumstance that we have guardianship now, prior to the court hearing. Another note to future travelling families, I have found that you should pack several ziplock bags. They have come in handy for so many things - food, money, etc.
Today we also ventured around the square. Yesterday Sergey left his cap at the Georgian restaurant. We walked to the restaurant - an easy walk - but when you are language impaired - it was quite a venture. The cap was there and Sergey was happy. So were we. The staff were all very helpful and understood why we came.
Otherwise, Sergey has been announcing to everyone he talks to that we are his mom and dad. He talks in Russian alot and we just hope he is being polite because we have no way of knowing what he is saying.
Thanks to everyone who is following our blog. Unfortuantely there will be no pictures until we return home.
Disadanya (Formal goodbye in Russian - English transliteration)
Rex, Liz and Sergey
Friday, August 24, 2007
Friday August 24, 2007
Hello Everyone:
Today is Ukraine Independence Day. However, the Internet Cafe is still open and that is where I am writing from. This morning Angelina picked us up to do some shopping. We did not find a converter for the computer, however, we discovered that our current charger will work on 220 volts so we plugged in the computer and charged up the battery, but that still does not solve the issue of internet server access on the laptop. While shopping we purchased some computer games for Sergey and some more snacks and water. We also went to a very nice Georgian cafe for lunch. Angelina really likes this cafe and we found the food and service wonderful. We tried to install the computer games on the laptop "Sergey style", but had to uninstall them. So Rex is reinstalling them while Sergey and I are at the internet cafe. At lunch today Sergey told Angelina that he is ready to go home and does not understand why we have to wait so long. We all wish we could speed up the process. After Angelina left we had communication challenges, so I asked this very nice hotel attendant that speaks English well to help us with translation today after Angelina left. Our biggest challenge is the language barrier. Otherwise, not much news to report. Hopefully the proper paperwork comes on Monday so Angelina can persuade the judge for an appointment early next week.
Mary Ann, thanks for sending the information onto everyone.
Tracy, Sergey cannot wait until he can see the cats, and talked about them the first day we saw him. I hope the wedding goes well tomorrow. Give everyone our regards.
Disadanya(formal goodbye in Russian)
Rex, Liz, and Sergey
Today is Ukraine Independence Day. However, the Internet Cafe is still open and that is where I am writing from. This morning Angelina picked us up to do some shopping. We did not find a converter for the computer, however, we discovered that our current charger will work on 220 volts so we plugged in the computer and charged up the battery, but that still does not solve the issue of internet server access on the laptop. While shopping we purchased some computer games for Sergey and some more snacks and water. We also went to a very nice Georgian cafe for lunch. Angelina really likes this cafe and we found the food and service wonderful. We tried to install the computer games on the laptop "Sergey style", but had to uninstall them. So Rex is reinstalling them while Sergey and I are at the internet cafe. At lunch today Sergey told Angelina that he is ready to go home and does not understand why we have to wait so long. We all wish we could speed up the process. After Angelina left we had communication challenges, so I asked this very nice hotel attendant that speaks English well to help us with translation today after Angelina left. Our biggest challenge is the language barrier. Otherwise, not much news to report. Hopefully the proper paperwork comes on Monday so Angelina can persuade the judge for an appointment early next week.
Mary Ann, thanks for sending the information onto everyone.
Tracy, Sergey cannot wait until he can see the cats, and talked about them the first day we saw him. I hope the wedding goes well tomorrow. Give everyone our regards.
Disadanya(formal goodbye in Russian)
Rex, Liz, and Sergey
Thursday, August 23, 2007
Thursday August 23, 2007
Hello everyone:
Today Angelina met us about 12:30 PM. We went shopping for shoes, shorts, t-shirts and sunglasses for Sergey. I was not prepared for Sergey to stay with us so I only brought dress-up clothes for Sergey for court. It is very hot here, 37C today and 41C yesterday, so shorts are necessary. Angelina met with the judge and he told her he has no openings next week. She explained the situation to the judge and he told her "Maybe" he would find time - "Maybe". Then she asked him if he would waive the ten day waiting period - and we just are not sure how that will go. Sergey basically has no where to go if the judge does not waive the ten day waiting period as the orphanage is closed for construction until October 1. So prayers please!!! While we were waiting for Angelina Sergey called his grandma from the hotel room. He wants to see her before he leaves. He was quite sad until Angelina and he spoke about seeing his grandma. We all decided he could see her after court was finished. He told Angelina that his grandma was very happy that he was being adopted and that he would have a family. We have been to the internet cafe twice today. Sergey loves to play computer games and we had e-mail to check and this site to update. Tomorrow we will meet Angelina and try to find a converter for the computer. Hopefully that item exists in the Ukraine. For all the families travelling to the Ukraine you will need a converter that is 100 watts to convert from 220 volts to 110 volts. Then perhaps we can post some pictures!!
Poka(Informal goodbye in Russian)
Rex, Liz, & Sergey
Today Angelina met us about 12:30 PM. We went shopping for shoes, shorts, t-shirts and sunglasses for Sergey. I was not prepared for Sergey to stay with us so I only brought dress-up clothes for Sergey for court. It is very hot here, 37C today and 41C yesterday, so shorts are necessary. Angelina met with the judge and he told her he has no openings next week. She explained the situation to the judge and he told her "Maybe" he would find time - "Maybe". Then she asked him if he would waive the ten day waiting period - and we just are not sure how that will go. Sergey basically has no where to go if the judge does not waive the ten day waiting period as the orphanage is closed for construction until October 1. So prayers please!!! While we were waiting for Angelina Sergey called his grandma from the hotel room. He wants to see her before he leaves. He was quite sad until Angelina and he spoke about seeing his grandma. We all decided he could see her after court was finished. He told Angelina that his grandma was very happy that he was being adopted and that he would have a family. We have been to the internet cafe twice today. Sergey loves to play computer games and we had e-mail to check and this site to update. Tomorrow we will meet Angelina and try to find a converter for the computer. Hopefully that item exists in the Ukraine. For all the families travelling to the Ukraine you will need a converter that is 100 watts to convert from 220 volts to 110 volts. Then perhaps we can post some pictures!!
Poka(Informal goodbye in Russian)
Rex, Liz, & Sergey
Wednesday August 22, 2007
Hello everyone:
Wednesday was a very eventful day. Angelina had us on the road by 8:15 AM. We initially went to the regional office in Donetsk where we met with local officials, who were very nice and very helpful and promised to work very hard to get the "Conclusion" completed by the end of the day. From there we went to the orphanage. When we arrived at the orphanage there was construction inside and outside going on. All the kids are at camp in the forest. We met with Olga and started the paperwork process and in the middle of the paperwork Sergey came in. He was SO HAPPY to see us and we were elated also. Someone had driven to camp to pick him up. He got up at 4:00 AM. During the paperwork process we discussed his name and he wanted to change it. We thought Sergey Thomas, he thought Sergey Samuel. So he is Sergey Samuel Jones. He really likes the name Sam. In the afternoon we went to see the notary in Gorlovka and completed more paperwork. During the afternoon the regional office in Donetsk called and the "Conclusion" was completed. Angelina's driver took us back to Donetsk, picked up the "Conclusion" and took it back to Angelina, who put it on the train to Kiev Wednesday evening so it could be registered Thursday. Angelina will meet the judge Thursday to see when court can be held. It was a busy day, but the most significant thing that happened today is the orphanage is closed for construction until October 1, so Sergey had no where to stay other than with us at the hotel, therefore we have Sergey with us already, even though that is not usual protocol!!! Sergey's English is even better than the last time we saw him and our Russian (even though quite limited) has really helped breach the communication barrier. Needless to say we do not understand everything, but, for the most part we communicate well. For this we are very thankful. Hopefully the judge will have an opening next week for court - prayers please!
Rex, Liz and Sergey
Wednesday was a very eventful day. Angelina had us on the road by 8:15 AM. We initially went to the regional office in Donetsk where we met with local officials, who were very nice and very helpful and promised to work very hard to get the "Conclusion" completed by the end of the day. From there we went to the orphanage. When we arrived at the orphanage there was construction inside and outside going on. All the kids are at camp in the forest. We met with Olga and started the paperwork process and in the middle of the paperwork Sergey came in. He was SO HAPPY to see us and we were elated also. Someone had driven to camp to pick him up. He got up at 4:00 AM. During the paperwork process we discussed his name and he wanted to change it. We thought Sergey Thomas, he thought Sergey Samuel. So he is Sergey Samuel Jones. He really likes the name Sam. In the afternoon we went to see the notary in Gorlovka and completed more paperwork. During the afternoon the regional office in Donetsk called and the "Conclusion" was completed. Angelina's driver took us back to Donetsk, picked up the "Conclusion" and took it back to Angelina, who put it on the train to Kiev Wednesday evening so it could be registered Thursday. Angelina will meet the judge Thursday to see when court can be held. It was a busy day, but the most significant thing that happened today is the orphanage is closed for construction until October 1, so Sergey had no where to stay other than with us at the hotel, therefore we have Sergey with us already, even though that is not usual protocol!!! Sergey's English is even better than the last time we saw him and our Russian (even though quite limited) has really helped breach the communication barrier. Needless to say we do not understand everything, but, for the most part we communicate well. For this we are very thankful. Hopefully the judge will have an opening next week for court - prayers please!
Rex, Liz and Sergey
August 21, 2007
Hello Everyone:
Tuesday was a very eventful day. We met our coordinator at 9:00AM. By 11:00 AM we had breakfast and walked past Independence Square in Kiev to the SDA. We met her counterpart there and had our appointment with the SDA psychologist. That appointment only took ten minutes and they released Sergey for adoption. After that appointment we went to the Embassy to complete more paperwork. Security was very heavy. We noticed lots of two inch thick bullet proof glass in doors, windows, etc, with lots of security cameras and guards. The Embassy staff have all been very helpful. After this appointment we went to the Mall to shop and wait for our "Direction to Travel". That arrived around 5:30 PM. By 6:30 we were packed and in the driver's van to go to Donetsk by air with our coordinator (Angelina). The flight only took an hour. We arrived 10:30PM and Angelina's husband picked us up and took us to Hotel Eba. The hotel accomdations are very nice with a restaurant on premises that has great food.
Rex & Liz
Tuesday was a very eventful day. We met our coordinator at 9:00AM. By 11:00 AM we had breakfast and walked past Independence Square in Kiev to the SDA. We met her counterpart there and had our appointment with the SDA psychologist. That appointment only took ten minutes and they released Sergey for adoption. After that appointment we went to the Embassy to complete more paperwork. Security was very heavy. We noticed lots of two inch thick bullet proof glass in doors, windows, etc, with lots of security cameras and guards. The Embassy staff have all been very helpful. After this appointment we went to the Mall to shop and wait for our "Direction to Travel". That arrived around 5:30 PM. By 6:30 we were packed and in the driver's van to go to Donetsk by air with our coordinator (Angelina). The flight only took an hour. We arrived 10:30PM and Angelina's husband picked us up and took us to Hotel Eba. The hotel accomdations are very nice with a restaurant on premises that has great food.
Rex & Liz
Monday, August 20, 2007
Monday August 20,2007
Hello Everyone:
We arrived in Kiev Sunday afternoon at 4:30 PM. It took 90 minutes to get through passport control. We were happy our luggage arrived intact. We were thankful our driver waited for us. He took us in his little car to our apartment. Check-in was painless, but our electronics are painful as our computer will not work at the apartment and will not charge. We found the internet cafe underground in the Metrogard, which also has ALOT of shopping. Tomorrow we have our appointment with the SDA and will travel to Donetsk with our coordinator Tuesday night. We have not figured out our cell phone either. We are communication challenged! We will post again once we are in Donetsk. It is warm and sunny here.
Rex and Liz
We arrived in Kiev Sunday afternoon at 4:30 PM. It took 90 minutes to get through passport control. We were happy our luggage arrived intact. We were thankful our driver waited for us. He took us in his little car to our apartment. Check-in was painless, but our electronics are painful as our computer will not work at the apartment and will not charge. We found the internet cafe underground in the Metrogard, which also has ALOT of shopping. Tomorrow we have our appointment with the SDA and will travel to Donetsk with our coordinator Tuesday night. We have not figured out our cell phone either. We are communication challenged! We will post again once we are in Donetsk. It is warm and sunny here.
Rex and Liz
Thursday, August 16, 2007
We are now 2 days until we leave from MSP to Amsterdam and then arrive Kiev on Sunday afternoon. A continued flurry of last minute activities. Papers to copy and assemble, pack and confirm rooms, apartments, car pickup, and our facilitator, Angelina who will meet us on Monday. Our apartment in Kiev is supposed to have internet service.
Will followup then.
RJJ
Will followup then.
RJJ
Thursday, August 2, 2007
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